Joseph berge



Oct. 1, \924. 1,513,198

J. BERGE SPEEDOMBTER Filed April 14 1919 2 Shoots-Shoat 2 3 nvemoz (Joseph 3m;

Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

" UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE-i JosEi'n BERGE or ni'oiiiqAii, ASSIGNOR TO A c seam: PLUG comramz, or FLINT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

siEiiiJOMEEIEER.

ipiiiicatimi flied A rii'i i, 1919. Serial No. 289527.

Tb allwiwmit ma comm.- V Be it known tliiit l, JdSEiH Bniion, a citi- Zeh of the United States and resident of F liiit, Genese County, State of Michi an,

My invention relates to speedometers de' signed to indicate the speed at which a vehicle is moving, and which instruments oi dinarily include odometer mechanism for registering the distance. travelled by the ehiole, the ame being driven from a wheel "of the Vehicle and the member mech;

i5 ail'is m thereof bldlll'ftlily having two s etsloi odom ter discs, o'ne 'to register the distanee travelledhy tliei ehicle iiijon ieach tripor during" each (day; and having resetting maiisforniojrihg the d iscsvbaclt to a zero reading ach trip, while the other selt fofdifes vis additiVg'fiihdregisters the total distance tiai elledhythe vehicle upon its seifefal trips or foi iin e'ntir seeson.

H I inventiehjs illustrated: as used with 245 ziiid 'as'foi'r'ning a pait of a magiietic speed oririetbffwhefein aliiietallio speed cup having characters :to indie'ate' the sfied'of the ehicle is'clragged a d-'ngb' the action of an arma tum rotating in a Magnetic fi eld in which the speed cup is located, 'a lthtinghimywinvane-Genny teased wiuisrg eiaismteps of an ttype 01" @1593; or aniodo iit-ei only;

which eas no "speed indicating friearis w'o ild ordinarily'he present. V

The obje ts'pfmyyini eiition new proide gent 21in improvements inan'd relating 'to odom'e'ter mechanism broadly and generany bh's'idered,. with the endyin View of providiii ddoi'netei" theavai i'ous (ioni- 40 P t e innfi f 1 opes of whi h my b e w yt embl d, nd nu -fe me theiiiseli's" t asi iher'et ofofe 'fe'o "only beeifthe ic'a 'se 'pi'hiride an" odometer in whieli the 'eieinentsuiigqf r m a oijdplete uii'itarj structure or mechanism which be a ss enfbled by itself, and readily introdli'gfdTinto the ciasing ofthe instrument as a. ineha'nisin or device" complete in I itself, :anjd' then se'qured in place therein, and

as readily re movetl from theeasing if and When it be'eomes neessaifj to do so, to provide arious improvements inland relating tdthmechanism provided for resetting the trip odometer discs to a Zero reading, and

to provide certain improvements in' and relat-' ing to the disposition and arrangements of the various portions of the odometer mechanism relative to one another and to the casing of the instrument wherein the various parts thereof are contained.

\Vith the above enumerated and other objeots of invention in View, my invention consists in the improved ddomte'i meiohanism and subordinate parts and features thereoi illustrate-d iii the 'aicoinfihiij ing drawings and hereiiinfter'desbribed in detail and particularly cl'zlin'ied in and h ythe' Concluding tilz'iiihs, and, Suh im ifitibiie a'iicl modificatioii sfthereof '@611 be obifioiis to those skilled'iii tlii'art vto invention relates. Y In the rawing aeeoiiibafiyingand forming aji'art of this "spoifiafiion arid iirhf'in the preferred 'eixibb'dir'nhtfof my? iihvehfieii is illustratedi U I H Figure'l is a iew ifiaihfi flifseti0hfi1poii :1 Vertical central iilzine extei'idiiig longitildirielly v ne. i t n i j into said and (Ward tli''fi ont or eX OSe'd facLeT' fend of; :ihs tifiini'eiit; Figure 3 is a i%/;;s1mwing ee'rtain elements" of' the *od'hitr iiie clfafhism iii 'oii alar er scale, and in section up-0n veitmh i -ere i J 4 is aj ragrn'entai y smongifig'w ul b on a a horizontal plane iiidicfi ted by the line IV, IV Figure'l; p I ig 're 5 is aviewfh'ovfyiiigthe in'ijart in w en, the e it Being some What smaller than in I ahd 2; v V Figure 6 is a 'Vieiizl a portion the casing se tioin within Whieli tlie doiiiete'r mechanism is l oratd, in fe'levatioii.

Figure 7, is plan wee" if the odometer meehanism' supporting bracket. Figure is i vie'w showing the odometer mechanism siippoiitin'g'hracket in persp'ee tive.

Referring 'nov i tolthj e drawings, ternal ca;sin'g: f the ii stiiiiiient edujj d with m improved; ci'clorr zet i mecha'msw' maybe of any form, so far as eonceins the greater bart of the ieturesofmm in'-enti o'n. although eertain eater e ef the construction and arrnng'fment of tli ca sing are involved in my in eawan, regarded in Certain ol its aspe'ts, as will hereinafter appeaig as well also as the relation of the odometer mechanism .}to the portion ofthe casing provided for its reception.

The casing shown com-prises two cupshaped casing-"sections 6, '7 annular in crosssectio'n whereby a cylindrical hollow easing having end walls 8, 9 is provided, and within the latter of which sections the odometer mechanism is conta.ined, t he open eudsof said section abut-ting along a joint at 10, and the said, sections. being secured together by an annular band or sleeve 11 forced onto the casing and overlaying the said joint, and having a flange 12 whereby the instrument may 'be, secured in place in an opening. in a dash or instrument supporting board of, a vehicle.

Themain driving shaft 13. of the speedometer is rotatable in a bearing supported 1 by the end wall 8 of'the casing, and 14 desig-.

nates a speed cup rotatable about an axis extending at right angles to the axis of the driving shaft and which element is supported .b y la bracket 15 secured in place wit 1n the casing. A rotatable armature not shown is located within the speed cup'14 and is driven :off thedriving 'shaft through bevel:gears,16',.17, tothereby move the speed cup; abdut' its axis, the extent 'of, such. movemerit being dependent upon the ,speed ;at

a which thearmature; is .driven froin a wheel of the vehicle, The, speed cup has numbers upon its periphery, indicating .the speed of the vehicle and which may beseen through a transparent 'member 18 secured within an opening providedin the casingfsection 7 and 19 isthe magnet of the-instrument, the oles of which lie close' to the peripheryo the speed 'cup and establish the magnetic: field said cup fa-nd the armature The reference numeral 20 designates an.

odometer, driying ,shaft arrart gegi parallel with ,tl ie fipain driving shaftf', and the ends of which are supported in'Ibearin'gs-21, 22

arrie ,r e t v y by h ndi l i'sid' 9of the'casing, and which shaft driven frorn'th'e driving shaft through suitable gearing 23, 24, 25 and 26, and the said odometer driving shaftin turn drives the odometer mechanism 0f the instrument through a worm gear 27 and a pinion 28.

' The odometer mechanism, of the instrument comprises a. fpluralityof trip odometer discs orfwheels indicated collectively by the reference numeral 29, and a plurality of total odometer discs'or wheels indicated collectively by the reference numeral 30, all of said discs being supported by an odometer shaft 31 the axis of which liesin a plane at'right angles to the axes,of themain driving' and the odometer driving shafts 13, 20. The ends of this odometer shaft are supported-in bearings 32 which in turn are supported in recesses or seats carried by or ing covered by the securing band or sleeve 11 when the instrument is assembled and in use. The said seats are preferably in the form of 'U-shaped open ended recesses formed in the peripheral wall of the casing section 7 and at the open'end thereof where it abuts with the casing section 6 along the joint 10, and within which recesses the ends of the shaft 31 are supported, as best shown in Figures 2 and 6.

The pinion 28 is located betweenthe season odometer discs and the trip odometer discs 29, and the same is permanently secured to and rotates with the odometer shaft 31, and the season or total discs are supported from the said shaft, the furtherest of the said discs to the right, Figure 2, being the units disc, the next the tens, and soon to.- ward the left, it being appreciated that this view is a view looking into the casingnie'mher and toward the front end thereof'which is exposed.when-theflinstrument is mouse.

The pinion 28 is permanently connected with a gear '33,, the two being preferablyf made from a single piece of metal; and 34 designates a gear of the-same diameter and having the s'amenumber of teeth as the gear 33 and arranged adjacent the same, and which two gears may be locked together, as shownin Figures 21111161 4, bya shiftable re-' setting gear 35, so that the right hand one of the trip odometer discs 29 with which the gear 34 is directly connected willr be driven from the pinion 28. i

The trip-odometer discs to.'t he right of the onedriven directly from the, pinion 28 as above explained rotate upon a hollow shaft or sleeve 36, supported by the shaft 31, but which sleeve is prevented from rotating by any suitable holding device. ,This sleeve also supports the carrying mechanism whereby each odometerdisc isadvanced one tenth of a rotation upon each complete rota-v tion of the adjacent disc of the nextdower denomination or order, as is usual in odometer mechanism, which carryingimechanism, however, is not disclosed in detail herein, as the same forms the subject matter of another application for patent executed and .filed by me.

The shiftable resetting gear 35 is carried by and rotates with a freely rotatable and longitudinally movable shaft or support 37 and this gear, when the same is in the position in which it is shown in Figures 2 and/f. in which its teeth are in engagement with the teeth of both the gear 33 and the gear31, locks the said gears together andservesto communicate rotary motion from the pinion 28 to the first or left hand one of the trip odometer discs 29. I

The'shaft-37 also carries a gear 38, the driving connection between the two being through a key on the shaft and a key way in the gear, as shownxat 39, Figure 4, that the s aft may move through the gear while maintainin a permanent -driving connection between the two, and the said gear 38 is in permanent operative engagement with a pinion 40 carried by and permanently connected with a rotatable hwb or sleeve etl, the-interior of which is provided with one or more key-ways 42, as best shown in Figure 3. w

L'The reference numeral 4:3 designates a rotatable and longitudinally shiftable resetting member supporm from the end wall 9-and centrally "located reiative thereto, and which memberis movable alon and rotata= ble about as axispp'arallel with and substantially coincidentiwith the axis of. the driving shaft-13, and said menrber is pro vided with-'takey 44 adapted to enter one of the key wa s42 to thereby form a clutch and operative y ooimect the resetting her with the hub 41 and the pinion 40, which .members; dbviouslyflrtrtate-about) the. axis of roffbary and longitudinnl mbvement' of the resetting member 43. .szSai'd resetting meme her ;is provided with a -oo'nical cam '451 With wh'ieh -ftherend of the. shaizft- 37 engages and S'5 hQI8b}"' When' said -,-;'nesetti'ng membenis moved tothe right, Figures --1-=and -4;, the shasft :will be nioyed along its axis against theaction of,-afspring 46, and the resetting gear which -;n1oves therewith will be moved into a position such that itwill engagethe teeth ,of'thegear 34 only, asshown in Figure 3. The outward movement of the resetting member-idmoves the key iii-into one" of the key-ways 42 thereby locking, said memberand the sleeve 41 and pinion 40 together. whereupon. when the resetting member is rotated by the .knobft] thepinion 40 will be dri en, and motion will he communicated to the left hand'one of the tripodome-ter discs through the 7. gears 40 and 38, the shaft 37-,the resetting gear ,35 and the gear 34 operatively connected with the trip odometer disc aforesaid, to thereby reset the trip odometer discs 29 of the instrument. The resetting member 4:3,isalso provided with agroove 48 into which the rounded end; of the shaft 37 snaps-when the said memberis in its extreme outward position-, to there'by yieldabl-y hold said member in proper position while itis being rotated to reset the trip odometer discs, as will be'understood. r

The gears above referred to whereby the resettin of the trip odometer discsis accoinplis ed, as well also as the resetting member 43 and theshaft 37 which carries the resetting gear 35, are supported in proper relation with one another and with the odometer discs by a supporting bracket. 49 carried by the end wall 9 of the casing section 7 and secured thereto by screws 50, said bracket having a depending arm 51 provided with a bearing at its lower end for supporting the middle portion of the odometer shaft 31, and whereby when the bracket is secured to the wall 9 the said shaft wil be held in place relative to the casing section 7, and the bearings 32 at the ends of said shaft'w'ill be held within the open U-shaped seats or recesses provided for them at the open end of the peripheral or side wall of said casing section. It therefore follows that the entire odometer mechanism may be assembled as a single unitary mechanism or device separate from the casing section 7, and then introduced thereunto and secured in placetherein by the screws 50. the bearings 32 or the ends of the shaft 31 moving sidewise into the recesses 01' seats provided in the peripheral wall of the casing section for supporting the ends of the said shaft, and that the said mechanism may he as readily removed in its entirety from the casing section by removing the said screws.

: The bracket 49 is provided with a tubular bearing 52 within which the resetting member43 reciprocates and rotates. The outer portion-of the resetting member moves in a bearing 53 in the end wall 9, and the rotatable hub or sleeve 41 which carries the pinion 40 is held in place between the bracket and "the adjacentinner surface of the end Wall 9, and is shown as having a bearing in the end of the tubular bearing 52. Theinner end of the shaft 37 which carries the shiftable resetting gear 35 extends through an opening in the wall of the bean ing 52, as best shown in Figure 4.. whereby a bearing is provided for the inner end of said shaft. The outer end of said shaft is supported by an arm 54 extending from tho bracket 49 and between which and the resetting gear 35 the spring 46 aforesaid acts, and the gear 38 is kept in mesh with the pinion 40 and prevented from moving with the shaft 37 in a sidewis'e direction by a boss 55 upon the side wall of the tubular bearing 52, and by arms 56 carried by the bracket 49, as best shown, in Figure 2.

While in the above explanation I have to a certain extent referred to the arm 51, the tubular'bearing .72, the arm 54, the boss 55, and the arms 56 as though they were separate elements, it will ee-understood that at! these elements and features are parts of the supporting bracket 49 whereby the entire resetting mechanism, with the exception of the hearing at for the outer end of the resettin member 4-3, is supported, and that the said last mentioned bearing is provided more for the purpose of preventing the entrance of dustinto the casing than for providing necessary support for the said resetting member.

Having" now described my invention what. I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1; In odometer mechanism of the class described a casing section having oppo sitely located U-sliaped bearing seats provided in its peripheral or side wall; an odometer shaft the ends of which are supported within and are removable by latera: movement from said bearing seats; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said shaft: means for operating said discs; a

bracket det-achably secured to the end wall of said casing section; and a bearing carried by said bracket for supporting the central portion of said odometer shaft.

2. In odometer mechanism of the class described, a casing section having a peripheral or side wall annular in form; two oppositely disposed U-shaped recesses carried by said side:wall=and both located to one side of the horizontal diameter thereof: anodometer shaft the ends of which are supported within'land are removable laterally from saidrecesses; a plurality of odometer discs 'supported"by said shaft; means for operating said discs; 'a bracket detachably secured'to the central portion of the end wall "of said-casing section; and an arm carried by said bracket and having a bearing for supporting' the central portion of said odometer 'shaft.

3. In odometer mechanism of the class described, a casing section having oppositely located bearings provided in its peripheral or side wall; an odometer shaft the ends of which are supported within said bearings; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said" 'shaft'; means for operating said discs a'bracket secured to the end wall of said casing section; a bearing carried by said bracket for-supporting the central portion of said odometer shaft; and resetting mechanism carriedby said bracketfor resetting said odometer discs. V

4. In odometer mechanism of the class described, a casing section having a side wall annular in form, and an end wall; two oppositely disposed U-shaped recesses carried by said side wall and located both to one side of the horizontal diameter thereof; an odometer shaft having a' centrally located driving pinion, the ends of which shaft are supported'in said recess and are removable therefrom by lateral movement; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said shaft and operated by said pinion; a bracket secured to the central portion of said end wall; and an arm carried by said bracket and having a bearing for the central portion of said odometer shaft.

5. In odometer mechanism of the class de scribed, a casing section having a side wall annular in form, and an end wall; two oppositely disposed U-shaped recesses carried by said side wall and located both to one side of the horizontal diameter thereof; an odometer shaft having a centrally located driving pinion, the ends of which shaft are supported in said recesses and are removable laterally therefrom; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said shaft and operated by said pinion; a bracket secured to the central portion of said end wall; an arm carried by said bracket and having a bearing for the central portion of said odometer shaft; and resetting mechanism carried by said bracket whereby said odometer discs may be reset.

6. In odometer mechanism of the class described, a cup-shaped casing section havin a side wall annular in form and an en wall; two oppositely disposed U-shaped recesses carried by said side wall and both located to one side of the horizontal diameter thereof; an odometer shaft having a centrally located driving pinion, the ends of which shaftare supported in said recesses; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said shaft and operated by said pinion; a bracket secured tothe central portion of said end wall;an arm carried by said bracket and-havinga bearing for the central portion of said odometer shaft; resetting mechanism carried by said bracket for resetting said odometer discs; and a rotary and reciprocating resetting member operable in a tubular bearing carried by'said bracket and extending through said end wall for operating said resetting mechanism.

7. In odometer mechanism of the class described; a. casing having an end wall; a bracket secured to said end wall; an odometershaft the central portion of which is supported in a bearing carried by said bracket; bearings supported by said casing and wherein the ends of said odometer shaft are supported; a pinion'located at the central portion of said odometer shaft; a gear secured to said pinion and rotatin there with; an odometer disc supported %)y said odometer shaft; a gear corresponding in size with said first mentioned gear and located adjacent the same; which gear is operatively connected with said odometer disc; a shiftable resetting gear carried by said bracket and adapted to mesh with both the gears aforesaid; means carried by said bracket for shifting said resetting gear into a position such that it will mesh only with the gem which operates said odometer disc; and resetting mechanism carried by said bracket and operatively connected with said resetting gear. Y

8. In odometer mechanism of the class described. an odometer shaft supported in suitable bearings, a driving-pinion carried by muses qeisetti g me e l sm. pe tire y connected with said resetting gear.

9. odometer mechanism of the class described,an odometer shaft supported in suitbearings, a driving pinion carried by. sea h t, n d m rs upp y odometer, sliaft, two gears COIlCelltllC, with said; odometer. shaft and' located bepinion and. said disc, and .7 which gears are connected to and rotate one with said pinion and the other with said disc, a shiftable resetting gear adapted to mesh with both the gears aforesaid, a rotatable and longitudinally movable resetting member, a pinion rotatable about the axis of said resetting member, gearing through which said resetting gear may be driven from said pinion, means whereby longitudinal movement imparted to said resetting member will shift said resetting gear into a position such that it will mesh only with the gear which operates said odometer disc, and means whereby said resetting member is operatively connected with said last mentioned pinion when said resetting member is moved longitudinally.

10. In odometer mechanism of the class described, an odometer shaft having a centrally located driving pinion; an odometer disc supported by said odometer shaft; two gears concentric with said odometer shaft and located betweensaid driving pinion and said disc and which gears are secured one to each of said members so as to rotate therewith; a shiftable resetting gear adapted to mesh with both the gears aforesaid; a rotary and longitudinally movable resetting member, means whereby said resetting gear is moved into on agement only with the teeth of the gear waich is connected with said odometer disc when said resetting member is moved longitudinally; and means whereby said resetting gear may be operated by said resetting member.

11. In odometer mechanism of the class described, an odometer shaft having a centrally located driving pinion; a gear rotating with said pinion; an odometer disc supported by said odometer shaft; a gear corresponding in diameter and number of teeth with said first mentioned gear and located adjacent the same, which gear is operatively connected with said odometer disc;

a rotatable and longitudinally movable shaft; :1 resetting gear carried said shaft and adapted to mesh with both the gears aforesaid; a rotatable and longitudinally movable resetting member; a cam formed on said resetting member and adapted to engage the end of said shaftto thereby shift said resetting gear into mesh with only the teeth of the gear which operates said odometer disc; a pinion normally disengaged from and rotatable about the axis of said resetting member; means carried by said resetting member for locking said member and said pinion together so that the pinion maybe rotated by the said resetting member; and a-gear carried by the shaft which supports said resetting gear and adapted to operate the same, and with which gear said last mentioned pinion meshes.

12. In odometer-mechanism of the class described, a bracket, an odometershaft rotatablein a bearing carried by said bracket, :1 driving pinion carried by said shaft and located adjacent said bearing, a plurality of total odometer discs supported by said odometer shaft and located to one side of said bearing and driving pinion, a plurality of trip odometer discs supported by said odometer shaft and located to the other side of said bearing and driving pinion, means for operating both said sets of discs, and resetting mechanism carried by said bracket and located between said total and trip odometer discs for resetting said trip odometer discs.

13. In odometer mechanism of the class described, a bracket, an odometer shaft rotatable in a bearing carried by said bracket, a driving inion carried by said shaft and located ad acent said bearing, a plurality of total odometer discs supported by said odometer shaft and located to one side of said bearing and driving pinion, a plurality of trip odometer discs supported by said odometer shaft and located to the other side of said bearing and driving pinion, an odometer driving shaft in operative engagement with said driving pinion and the axis of which is at one side of and extends at right angles to the axis of said odometer shaft, a reciprocating and rotatable resetting member carried by said bracket and movable along and rotatable about an axis extending at right angles to and located at the other side of the axis of said odometer shaft, and resetting mechanism carried by said bracket and operable by said resettin member and located between said total an trip odometer discs for resetting said trip odometer discs.

14. In odometer mechanism of the class described. a casing section having oppositely disposed U-shaped bearing seats in its peripheral or side wall; an odometer shaft the ends of which are supported within and are removable by lateral movement from said bearing seats; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said shaft; a pinion carried by said odometer shaft; and a driving member engaging said pinion to thereby drive said odometer shaft.

15. In odometer mechanism of the class described, a casing section having a periphoral or side wall annular in form; two oppositely disposed U-shaped recesses carried by said side wall and both located to one side of the horizontal diameter thereof; an odometer shaft the ends of which are supported within and are removable laterally from said recesses; a plurality of discs supported by said shaft: a driving pinion carried by said odometer shaft and through which the same is driven; and a driving member engaging said pinion to thereby drive said odometer shaft.

16. In odometer mechanism of the class described, a casing section having oppositely from said bearing seats; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said shaft; and a pinion carried by said odometer shaft and located centrally thereof, and through which said odometer shaft may be driven.

17. In odometer mechanism'of the class described, a casing section having oppositely disposed U-shaped bearing seats provided in its peripheral or side wall; an odometer shaft the ends of which are supported within and are removableby lateral movement from said bearing seats; a plurality of odometer discs supported by said shaft; and resetting mechanism located adjacent the central portion of said odometer'shaft and whereby said odometer discs may be reset.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOSEPH BER-GE." 

